Association of the Patriotic Combat Associations

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The Working Group of the Patriotic Combat Associations was an amalgamation of various associations within the ethnic movement that emerged at the end of the 19th century .

founding

The working group was founded on February 4, 1923 during the Ruhr crisis on the initiative of Ernst Röhm .

The leading organizations of the working group included the Vaterländischer Bezirksverein , the Bund Oberland , the Wehrverband Reichsflagge as well as the Sturmabteilung and Kampfverband Niederbayern .

organization

The initiator and driving force was Ernst Röhm, who, in view of the occupation of the Ruhr, considered a concentration of the means of power in Bavaria to be essential.

The working group had around 15,000 members with all associations and was led by a committee elected by the majority. The management was taken over by the former Bavarian Minister of Justice Christian Roth , and the military management by the former Chief of Staff of the Resident Armed Forces Hermann Kriebel . In order to be noticed publicly, Wilhelm Weiß published the magazine Heimatland for the AG .

Politics and Effect

In mid-January 1923, Röhm wrote a memorandum in which he explained three measures, in his opinion, urgently needed against the Belgian-French occupation in the Ruhr area :

First, the preparation of defensive measures and the concentration of all means of power, second, the clarification of the internal situation in Germany, and third, the armed conflict with France. He was aware that the latter was still a long way off, but saw the fight against France as the ultimate goal.

As a result, it was important for Röhm that Adolf Hitler took on the central role in the political leadership of the working group. He later said:

“The main concern of the enemies of the working group was not to let Hitler's influence become too great. In contrast, my thoughts and endeavors were aimed solely at giving Hitler the dictatorial political leadership and Kriebel the dictatorial military leadership. "

- Ernst Röhm

This was done primarily out of the conviction that Hitler and his movement could ensure that a departure from the hated November Revolution was guaranteed.

Furthermore, Röhm asked Hitler to precisely define the aims of the working group in public. Hitler used this as an opportunity to further radicalize his speeches and views in the following months.

Pressure on the state government

The leadership committee made it clear from the start that it would not unconditionally submit to a government. In a message to Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling , it was said that they would stand behind any state government that “is and remains resolutely national”. Here it is already clear that the working group will take action against a government that does not appear nationally enough. In order to emphasize the letter, Kriebel and Röhm had 3000 members of the combat units conduct a field exercise on March 25, thus demonstrating their fighting strength.

On 1 May 1923 the Labor Day , the first major action took place the working group, they demanded the Bavarian government to ban the demonstrations of the Red 1 May. However, the ultimatum was rejected by the government, which led to the supporters of the fighting units illegally procuring weapons. However, neither the police nor the Reichswehr tolerated armed violence on the streets and forced those involved to return their weapons.

The end of the Working Group of the Patriotic Combat Units

German Day took place in Nuremberg on September 1 and 2, 1923 . The estimates of the number of participants fluctuated between 40,000 and 100,000 men, with prominent guests such as Ludwig Ferdinand von Bayern , Hitler, Ludendorff , Pittinger and many others.

On a leaflet, the patriotic fighting organizations called for the rejection of the Versailles Treaty , for the fight against communism , the Marxist movement and Judaism .

In the course of the two days, the working group of the patriotic combat units became the German Combat League , consisting of an association of the NSDAP , the Bund Reichsflagge and the Bund Oberland.

literature

  • Klaus Mües-Baron: Heinrich Himmler. Rise of the Reichsführer SS (1900–1933). Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3899718003 .
  • Robert Gellately : Lenin, Stalin and Hitler. Three dictators who led Europe into the abyss. Bergisch Gladbach 2009, ISBN 978-3785723494 .
  • Hans Fenske: Conservatism and right-wing radicalism in Bavaria after 1918. Bad Homburg et al. 1969.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Hans Fenske: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Vaterländischen Kampfverbände, 1923. In: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns . February 18, 2009, accessed February 25, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b Klaus Mües-Baron, Heinrich Himmler. Rise of the Reichsführer SS (1900–1933) , Göttingen 2011, p. 184.
  3. ↑ a b Hans Fenske, conservatism and right-wing radicalism in Bavaria after 1918 , Bad Homburg et al. 1969, p. 188.
  4. ↑ a b c Klaus Mües-Baron, Heinrich Himmler. Rise of the Reichsführer SS (1900–1933) , Göttingen 2011, p. 185.
  5. ↑ Hans Fenske: Conservatism and right-wing radicalism in Bavaria after 1918. Bad Homburg et al. 1969, p. 189 f.
  6. ^ A b Robert Gellately: Lenin, Stalin and Hitler. Three dictators who led Europe into the abyss. Bergisch Gladbach, 2009, p. 160.
  7. ^ A b Hans Fenske, conservatism and right-wing radicalism in Bavaria after 1918 , Bad Homburg et al. 1969, p. 202.
  8. ^ Robert Gellately, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler. Three dictators who led Europe into the abyss , Bergisch Gladbach, 2009, p. 161.